Ernesto de la Cruz

At first glance, Ernesto presents himself as a charming, wise, sensible and intelligent man who encouraged others to follow their dreams no matter what, making him a good role model for others (especially Miguel). He also gives the impression of being a very cheerful, friendly and approachable person, the kind who is the soul of the party wherever he goes, and is also very personable to his guests, his staff, and gets along well with children.

However, all of this turns out to be a facade hiding his true nature, a selfish, sinister, vain, and overly ambitious man who wanted fame and glory just for himself, even if it meant killing his best friend Hector to steal his songbook. His afterlife as a spirit has also allowed him to strengthen his reputation, and he will do anything to preserve it. Therefore, his view of how someone should follow their dreams, regardless of what ultimately makes them more selfish than anything else.

He has a very paranoid personality, as shown when he considered Miguel to be a burden when the boy witnessed his true identity being revealed and went so far as to try to kill him to hide his secret. He showed no remorse or hesitation, even taunting his former friend Hector with sarcastic apologies before almost wiping him off the face of the earth. He was also cocky enough to hide his secret in one of his films, which inevitably led to his exposure. When faced with his actions, he can also be cowardly, as shown when he was attacked by Hector for his murder and confronted by the other Reavers who found out the truth about Hector's death. Instead of resisting or even trying to convince them that they were wrong, he instead sent his guards after them.

Despite his selfishness, he is able to show ordinary decency towards people as long as they don't know his secret, and he saved Miguel after he fell into the pool during a party. Then he spent some time talking with Miguel, and even intended to give him his blessing to return to the World of the Living. That was before Miguel realized what he had done to Hector, so it's debatable whether Ernesto's act was sincere or not.

In general, Ernesto is a man who puts his own desires first, and puts his friends below himself last. His biggest weakness is his willingness to neglect friendship and family in order to become famous and defend his crimes, which turned out to be his downfall and loss of reputation.